Reeding mail with  VoiceOver on iPad

Open the Mail app either by instructing Siri to "Open Mail" or by locating the Mail app on the home screen and double tapping.

These notes assume that you are holding the iPad with the short edge uppermost, in portrait orientation. If you prefer to hold your iPad with the long edge uppermost, in landscape orientation, then the screen layout will differ slightly.  There is a brief note about this at the foot of this page. 

Apps usually start where you last left them, so it's not possible to be precise about what will be on the screen when you launch the Mail app. It's likely to be in one of two states.

The app will probably either be displaying the list of emails in your inbox in a sidebar on the left of the screen, partially obscuring the current email message or it will be displaying a single email filling the screen.

If the app is showing the sidebar displaying list of inbox emails on the left then the "back" button at the top left of the screen will probably speak "mailboxes, back button" or possibly the name of a single mailbox, for example b t internet. This is the display you need in order to be able to skim efficiently through your email.

If the app starts with one email filling the screen then the button at top left will speak "show sidebar, button". Select this and double tap with one finger.  The sidebar listing messages in your inbox will appear on the left of the screen.

Now that the sidebar list is on the left of the screen, let's see how to skim through your inbox, quickly delete unwanted emails and open emails you want to read in full.

You first need to ensure that VoiceOver is focused on the heading above the first item in the sidebar.  Slide a finger slowly downwards  from the top of the screen a couple of centimetres from the left edge of the screen until you hear VoiceOver speak "All inboxes, heading" or "Inbox, heading" or some similar heading. Lift your finger. You are now correctly positioned to swipe right through the messages in your inbox.  VoiceOver will speak a brief summary of each email. This will include the name of the sender, the subject and the beginning of the email message. You can skim through summaries of the emails in your inbox by swiping right to hear VoiceOver speak the summaries one by one. VoiceOver will let you know if a message has attachments and speak the number of attachments. The summary may be sufficient to let you decide that you want to delete the email. To delete the email, swipe up with one finger until VoiceOver speaks "delete". Double tap with one finger and VoiceOver should report "message deleted" and then speak the summary of the next email. When you have reached an email that you want to read in full, double tap anywhere with one finger and the email will fill the screen and VoiceOver will speak the start of the email. 

To hear an email spoken in full swipe down with two fingers.

To pause and resume the speech, tap the screen with two fingers.

When you have finished reeding that email, slide your finger near top left of the screen to find the "show sidebar" button and then double tap with one finger to retrieve the list of items in your inbox in the sidebar on the left of the screen. 

An alternative way of working through your messages is to remain with an email filling the screen. With an email filling the screen, find the "show sidebar" button near top left of the screen and then swipe right and you'll find "previous message" and "next message" buttons that may be double tapped to move through your inbox list. If you continue swiping you will find the "delete" button, to double tap if you want to delete the current message.

An email may include one or more attachments. Here is how to read email attachments.

Note for users who prefer to hold the iPad horizontally in landscape orientation: 

The main difference in layout is that the sidebar displaying the inbox list will always remain on the left of your screen with the current email message displayed in full on the right. The sidebar does not overlay the message as it does when the iPad is held in portrait orientation. So you will need to remember that you always have a split screen, with the inbox list down the left of the screen and your current email message on the right.

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